With the World Cup only two months away, I’m feeling as though there is not enough discussion about this great event around Beantown. One would think that more people in the U.S. would be excited about this event, being grouped with England, and also Algeria and Slovenia. When the groups were announced in December, people were more excited than they are today; when England’s David Beckham was healthy and expected to play in the World Cup (a torn Achilles tendon he suffered in May has changed that).
Despite Beckham’s injury, fans still should be looking forward to the U.S. vs. England match at Royal Bafokeng Stadium on June 12th. To many, that matchup in soccer is like the Red Sox vs. the Yankees in baseball, or the Duke vs. the UNC in basketball. One would think that especially in a city like Boston, there would be a better following than there is of this impressive sporting event. But at the few local watering holes I have been at there hasn’t been much talk of the World Cup.
I know soccer will never be as big as baseball, football, basketball, and maybe even hockey, but the World Cup is such a beautiful worldwide event that lacks the recognition in this country. Even in 2002 when the U.S. Men’s team made it to the World Cup Quarterfinals, and eventually lost 1-0 to Germany (led by goalie Oliver Khan, Tournament MVP), the average American sports fan were not tuned into the World Cup.
Despite the fact that there is not much talk about the World Cup from adults around here, I think there is hope from the kids who are more excited about this event. Most people over 40 did not grow up playing youth soccer, however in the last couple of decades, the rise of youth soccer has been very popular as more kids are turning in their little league spikes for a pair of soccer cleats. What this means is, that down the road our kids who are growing up playing soccer will pass this game on to their own kids, and with the help of Major League Soccer, the popularity of the not only the World Cup, but also the sport in general, will grow. Finally, I think that if the United States has another successful tournament, than we might get the chance to host the world cup in 2018 or 2022, and by then some of these soccer kids (and maybe soccer moms too) will be talking about the World Cup a few months before it actually starts.
The fact of the matter is, people in America do not like the pace of a soccer game, especially one that is played at the highest level. It is slow, there are too many whistles, and scoring opportunities are not as exciting as they are in other sports. At the world cup level (and any Premier level play), defensive players are too good and limit scoring opportunities.
ReplyDeleteThe sport will grow at the youth levels due to the reasons that you mentioned, as well as more organization and coordination from soccer entities due to better communication methods and media outlets that didn't exist 20 years ago. However, with America's "need it right now" mentality, the sport will never be as popular as it is in other countries. It just doesn't provide the immediate excitement that sports like football provide. This is why MMA has boomed like no other sport in history. It is fast paced and provides immediate feedback to the viewer.